Sourjah elected as 15th President of Industrial Security Foundation

Seated from left: SSP C.M. Sanders (Retd), Wing Cdr (Rtd) Pradeep Kannangara, SP Wazir Sourjah (Rtd), Capt. (Rtd) Nalaka Silva and Cdr (Rtd) Aruna Maganaarachchi; Standing from left: Group Capt. Athula Nanayakkara, Maj. (Rtd) Ananda Rodrigo, Maj. Gen. (Rtd) Athula Jayawardene, Chamara Waduge, Maj. (etd) Krishan de Silva and Sqd Ldr (Rtd) Lasitha Mendis

Wazir Sourjah was elected as the 15th President of the Industrial Security Foundation (ISF) Inc. of Sri Lanka at the 33rd Annual General Meeting held recently at the Capri Club, Kollupitiya. The Industrial Security Foundation was formed in the year 1992 and was subsequently incorporated by Act of Parliament, No. 51 of 1999.

Sourjah is a senior Life Member of the ISF and has been a member of the Executive Committee of the foundation on several occasions. He was also in charge of the security training programmes of the ISF some years ago.

He is a retired Superintendent of Police with wide experience in the field of Law Enforcement—Community Policing, Counter Terrorism and in National Security responsibilities, within the Intelligence fraternity of the country. 

He has undergone training in related subjects while serving in the police department both locally and overseas, in Singapore, Malaysia, the UK and the US. He is a Fellow of the ISF since 1996, and a Certified Security Management Professional (CSMP), from the International Security Management Institute (ISMI) – UK, in addition to being a member of the institute. 

Post retirement from the Police department, he has worked in several corporations such as L.B. Finance Ltd, MAS Holdings, John Keells Group, Ceylon Cold Stores and the Cinnamon Grand Hotel, Glaxo Smith Kline, a multinational, in the Security and Administration managerial positions. His last position was as a Foreign Service National Investigator (FSNI), in the Regional Security Office of the U.S. Embassy in Colombo. 

He is also a past member of Toastmasters International, a regular writer on physical security. Presently, he is an Independent Physical Security Consultant. 

Sourjah is an old Royalist of the 70’s vintage, a boxer who captained the Royal College boxing team in 1973, coloursman, and a senior prefect. He was also a one-time Honourary Secretary of the Amateur Boxing Association (ABA) of Sri Lanka, presently known as the Boxing Association of Sri Lanka (BASL). He was also a National Referee and Judge of the Boxing Referees and Judges Association (BRJA) of Sri Lanka in the years 1990-2013. He has also published three books to his credit.  Sourjah plans to focus his attention on elevating professionalism and ethics in the security industry and within the ISF, to the next level with the cooperation and assistance of all Past Presidents, who are the Foundation’s Council Members and members of the Executive Committee and the General Membership.

The other office bearers of the ISF are:

Immediate Past President; Wing Cdr (Retd) Pradeep Kannangara, Senior Vice President: Capt. (Rtd) Nalaka Silva, Vice President: Cdr (Rtd) Aruna Maganaarchchi, Honourary Secretary: SSP S.M. Sanders (Rtd), Honourary Assistant Secretary: Chamara Waduge, Honourary Treasurer: Col (Rtd) Suresh Pakshaweera, Honourary Assistant Treasurer: Group Capt. (Rtd) Athula Nanayakkara, Executive Committee Members: Maj. (Rtd) Ananda Rodrigo, Maj (Rtd). D.B.S. Dassanayake, Tony Perera, Maj. (Rtd) Krishan de Silva, Mario Perumal, Maj. Gen. (Rtd) Athula Jayawardene, Sqd Ldr (Rtd) Lasitha Mendis and Maj. (Rtd) Thilak Senanayake.